


In Time

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Highschoolstuck, Humanstuck, M/M, On Hiatus, Sadstuck, World War III, new world order
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-30
Updated: 2013-06-01
Packaged: 2017-12-13 09:44:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/822865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The rules are simple. Follow society. Be polite. Be clean. Be neat. Organization. We choose your jobs. Your life. You have no freedom. You belong to us. We control you. You are ours.</p><p>You won't escape.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One - Unroyal Pain

Karkat Vantas stood in line, like every other student, to get his lunch that he wouldn't eat. He scratched the back of his head – where his individual chip was located. It always itched, but that was supposed to be common among the People. The chips were implanted at birth – they were meant to hold all information stored in computers. Not only that, but the government tracked every move. Every word. Every thought. Any misbehavior, stung.

“Next,” the lunch attendant called. She was a pretty woman who was destined to a life of serving ungrateful teenagers their food, because when she herself was a teenager, she disobeyed Them. When you disobey Them, there must be consequences.

Karkat stepped forward. He received a heaping tray of unidentified meat, broccoli, and white milk. Healthy.

Disgusting.

He took a seat next to his friend – Sollux Captor, whom he adored. They'd been friends since forever, and Karkat had developed a bit of a crush. Once or twice they'd joked about dating, but Karkat didn't see it as a joke. He liked the boy so much it hurt. He didn't think it was love, though. Love would feel differently, right?

“Hey, Sollux,” he said, pushing his own tray away slightly.

The chip stung.

He was sure it was because his lack of appetite was pissing Them off.

That's what he wanted – to piss Them off.

“What'th up?” Sollux nodded at Karkat. He turned and poked at his own food, glancing at his friend as he watched Karkat shove his tray away. “You know, you're going to th'tarve your'thelf with that goddamn-” His chip stung. They didn't like language. “God _dang_ thing. Ju'tht eat it. It'th not bad.”

Karkat looked over at Sollux and smirked. He stabbed a piece of broccoli with his spork and waved it in Sollux's face. “They want me to eat it, right? Who knows what kind of chemicals They've put in it? To make us zombified. Look around – I'm not the only one noticing this shit.”

He winced as his chip stung, but he made no means to correct his language or what he said. He never did. He knew They didn't like it when They were talked about negatively, so he made any chance to do it. So did his friends. They did it often. They felt the consequences often.

Dave Strider got a seat next to Karkat. He slammed his metal lunch tray on the wooden surface of the table and spread his bony hands out, “All right, guys. I've got a plan,” he smirked. He motioned for Jade Harley, who was passing by and looking for a place to sit. “Harley, come check this out,” he said.

Sollux smirked at Dave, “What'th it today?”

Jade looked over and smiled sweetly as she made her way over to them. Her long black hair covered her chip, but you could barely tell it was there anyway because her dark skin seemed to camouflage it. She sat in between Karkat and Dave, asking, “What's up?”

Dave held up his plastic butter knife and proclaimed, “We can dig 'em out.”

Karkat let out a heavy breath through his mouth – he was fed up with Dave's ideas which were never going to work. He rolled his eyes, “That's the fourth time you've suggested that. You're going to end up actually doing it one day and killing yourself, dumb ass – ow!” his hand flew to the back of his head, scratching.

The scientist in Jade kicked in and she pointed out, “We technically can't. They're too lodged near our brains. We would damage several nerves and stems that it would cause major, irreparable damage to not only our brains, but our skulls as well. The only way would be to properly, surgically remove it...which none of us can do.” She frowned at them sympathetically – she wanted the chips out as much as they did.

Dave pointed the butter knife to the tip of Jade's nose. “That's where you are wrong, my dearest Harley. I can be the best brain surgeon in the world!” he broke out into sarcastic, maniacal laughter. Then his chip stung badly. A robotic voice in the back of his head spoke, _'No facial piercings, Mr. Strider.'_

He immediately jerked the metal stud out of the center of his lip and shoved it into his pocket. He said, “F-...I mean...fricken' people.”

Karkat sighed and moved the broccoli around on his tray with his spork. There was a constant electrical sting in the back of his head from his “misbehavior”. Often, he refused to eat the food served at state buildings – such as school, restaurants, etc. He used foul language more than necessary. He never obeyed any of the rules of modern society for males. There he sat, with white-dyed hair and double ear piercings. Two things They hated.

“Juniors, please report to the guidance counselor to have your dream jobs chosen for you! Thank you for your cooperation.”

Several students rose and exited the cafeteria. Among them, Karkat recognized many. And many of them had no idea that they were basically zombies living in a controlled world. That their lives were meaningless. They were not free.

“We're after the juniors,” he mumbled to his friends. “Getting our college names and all that other mess.”

“No shit?” Sollux pointed out before being stung in the back of his own head. “Shiz,” he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes skyward and snarling his face, as if They could see him.

Jade let out a worried breath through her nostrils, “What do you think we're all going to get?”

“Wherever we end up, I hope it's at least near each other. I don't want to leave any of you guys,” said Karkat with a side-glance at Sollux. He picked at the collar of his plain black t-shirt.

Sollux crossed his arms, “Can you get any more cliche, K.K.?”

Dave grinned and said, “Yeah, I wouldn't want to leave any of you, either. Especially not Harley here.” He took Jade's hand and held it up. He often flirted openly with her, treating her as if she were his girlfriend even though they weren't together. Jade didn't mind. She smiled and was about to play along, when both of their chips stung. A voice echoed robotically and in unison in the back of their heads, _'No public displays of affection.'_

They dropped each others' hand. Dave leaned close to Jade's ear. He whispered, “Sorry.”

She shook her head, “Don't bother.”

“How am I being cliche?” scoffed Karkat to Sollux.

“You ju'tht are, man. With your whole, 'oh, I don't want to leave any of you guy'th' shi-” he paused, “-z.”

“Well, I don't.” Karkat spoke defensively. “You guys are really great friends. Oh, am I being sappy or what?”

There was a silence between them. It was as if in a mutual, silent agreement, they decided that yes, they were the best of friends. And they could never leave each other. Would always trust each other. Should always be with each other. Then, after five minutes of the peaceful silence – save for the murmur of conversations around them – Dave gasped, “My dad's a surgeon! He could-”

“Don't even, Strider,” Karkat laughed, raising his eyebrows.

Sollux shook his head and sighed, “Whatever.”

Jade said, “We'd get caught.”

“Seniors, please report to the guidance counselor to have your colleges chosen. Your careers shall be re-chosen, also. Thank you for your cooperation.”

The voice echoed through the cafeteria as each student went quiet.

“Re-chosen?” asked Dave in a dubious manner. He shoved a spoonful of potatoes in his mouth and spoke around them, “I thought we already had our jobs chosen.”

Karkat shrugged. The four of them dumped their trays in the trash. Karkat dumped his completely full tray, including untouched milk. He held his hand to the back of his head as he felt an immense pain there.

_'You're beginning to be a real bother, Mr. Vantas.'_


	2. Chapter Two - From Another Place

At the pain in her head, Jade was tempted to pull her tray out of the trash and eat it even though the food was soiled. She sighed – that wasn't an option. As a “reward” for good behavior, They released a drug inside of the People's brain. It gave them a sense of utter tranquility. But they had no control of themselves. The People agreed to everything until the drug wore off. She hated the feeling – the feeling of no control. To dream of leaving the facility was to dream of entering Heaven.

“Come on, Jade.”

Jade jumped slightly – she was lingering. Lost in her thoughts of escape. Escaping the underground prison they called home. Their parents were all killed when the Dead Land – named for its barren landscape – was overrun by the current leader. Most of the adults among the People were only children. Then they were sent to this underground facility to be raised as slaves for the government.

It was all they could ever remember.

Jade felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Dave standing there, a slight smirk on his face though his eyebrows were knitted together in concern. He said, “Let's go, Harley,” and then looped his arm through hers, ignoring the pain that shot through his skull.

“Maybe they'll pair us together, yeah?” he grinned toothily at her. Jade couldn't help but smile back.

She nodded, “Yeah. I highly doubt it, though. After all-”

The building started to shake. Students ceased their walking, ceased their talking, steadying themselves against the stone walls. Sollux looked around, confused. “Guys, what the fuck is that?” he asked. His chip didn't sting.

As everything continued to convulse, Karkat, too, put his hands against the wall to steady himself. His pupils dilated and he asked, “What's happening? What's going on?”

“None of us fucking know,” Dave snapped. He grimaced, expecting a sting from his chip. There was none.

The four of them, as well as many other students, exited out into the hallway to see what the commotion was. A man ran down the hallway carrying a rifle. But this man was different than any of the other People – he was wearing a full set of steel armor. Jade recognized him from her textbooks. A Knight of Paldandrea. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

Before Jade's brain could fully register what was happening, she found herself catching the rifle that the Knight tossed at her. He yelled, “Here, girl! Take that, and take your friends to get out of here as fast as you can!”

Sollux stared at Jade and raised his voice to speak above the chatter and noise, “Th'o, what, she get'th the gun?”

“I don't know how to fire a gun!” squeaked Jade.

Dave took the rifle out of Jade's hands and said, “Here, let me use it!” There was a wide grin on his face, and much excitement in his voice. He looked around, grin faltering a moment, and then asked, “What do we need it for?”

“Th'omething'th hap-” Sollux started. Jade interrupted with, “That was a Knight of Paldandrea! You know – the ones we learned about in our textbooks? They're the survivors of the Dead Land – before we were captured! They look for us, the new generation-”

Recognition and hope gleamed in all of their faces. Jade continued, “We're getting out of here!”

Dave threw a fist in the air and whooped, other hand holding on tightly to the rifle. Karkat let out a relieved, happy sigh followed by a small chuckle. After years of being controlled – being told that their life was already picked out. Their spouses, their careers, their homes. Freedom had come at last. Hadn't it?

There were several gun shots. Sollux gritted his teeth. Karkat said, “We're getting out of here, sure. If we survive first – They won't like this.”

“Let's go,” Sollux urged.

Jade looked uncertainly at Dave and asked, “Are you sure you can handle a gun?”

Dave held the gun tightly in both hands, “Of course I can. I mean, I might've never handled one before, but neither have you. Guns aren't allowed. I can do this. I'm a man.” He puffed out his chest and held his chin up. He grinned at Jade.

Jade didn't smile back – she was all business now. She nodded her head once and said, “ _We_ can do this. We're a team now.” People rushed out of the building on all sides of them, pushing and shoving each other. Jade took the lead out – the three boys following closely behind her.

“Wait! Kar, wait!”

Karkat snarled his face in horrified disbelief. He turned to see Eridan Ampora rounding the corner and making his way toward them. “Don't leave me!”

He groaned and rolled his eyes – he and Eridan were friends, sure. Though Eridan could be a bit of an arrogant asshole a lot of the time. Karkat would prefer if Eridan stayed in the facility – or if he gathered up his own group of fugitives.

Jade gestured at the group, smiling a little at Eridan. “C'mon,” she said, “hop in. We're getting out of here.”

Sollux sighed, “Come on, a'th-hole.”

The chip didn't sting.

Why wasn't the chip stinging?

Eridan clasped his hands in front of him, holding them up to Jade. “Thank you so much,” he said, tone coated with complete relieved gratitude. Karkat snorted and Dave rolled his eyes – what a drama queen.

Jade nodded her head once and said, “We need to keep moving – now!”

“Right,” Dave agreed. They started forward as people continued to swarm out of the building. How many people could the school hold? Out in the streets, it was mayhem. Government soldiers and Knights clashed with one another. People scattered and yelled.

Two soldiers ran by the small group. Jade realized too late that they weren't Knights, and as they noticed Dave's weapon, they shot at the group. Jade nearly got hit, and she looked to Dave for help.

Dave raised his rifle and put his finger on the trigger. His arms shook with nerves and effort from holding the weight, as he'd never expected a gun to be so heavy. He let his finger linger over the trigger for a moment in contemplation before he pulled it, shooting the soldier in the chest. The solider faltered but didn't collapse - bullet-proof vests.

Karkat muttered, “Shit.”

The chip didn't sting.

“Hand me the gun!” Jade yelled, snatching the rifle out of Dave's hands. She aimed the gun as if she'd handled them all of her life, like a professional. She shot the soldier three times in the chest – not enough to kill him, but enough to knock him unconscious.

Karkat asked in amazement with his eyes widened, “How did you do that?” No one in the City had handled weaponry before – not even swords.

Jade looked back at Karkat, “Let's just say...I wasn't born here.”


	3. Nickname the Gun

They dropped it at that. Karkat became suspicious of Jade. She claimed she was born elsewhere, yet she, too, had a chip implanted like the rest of them. Dave shrugged it off as nothing and continued to adore her

After they left the School, the first place they headed were their individual apartments where their guardians looked after them. In Dave's case, it was his older brother. In Jade's case, it was her grandfather, who would have been a teenager when the Dead Land was overrun.

Jade opened the door of her apartment carefully. She didn't know what to expect behind the unlocked door – for all she knew, soldiers could have been waiting to kidnap or kill them. She opened the door to find her grandfather on the floor, dead. She swallowed past a lump in her throat, keeping the tears at bay as she took an old pistol from a table drawer. “Here,” she said, passing it to Karkat.

Karkat held the pistol cautiously. He studied it closely for a moment before saying, “So you have handled weapons before. How did you not get caught?”

She looked at him, “Like I said, I wasn't born here. Leave it at that.”

Dave rocked back and forth on his heels. “I call bullshit,” he said. “I've known you since elementary school.”

Jade started out of the apartment as they headed toward Dave's. She said, “I wasn't born here,” with an insistant nod of her head, “but I was brought here at an early age.”

“I also call bullshit,” said Karkat, knitting his eyebrows together. “You have to have your birth certificate in order to attend the elementary school. They wouldn't have allowed a foreigner without a chip.” He paused. “...You _do_ have a chip, don't you?”

Jade brushed back her hair, revealing her chip covered by a thin layer of her dark skin. It was just visible to the naked eye. “I have a chip. Besides,” she sighed, “I was taken for a reason.”

Sollux shrugged, “I al'tho call bull'thit becau'the everybody el'the doe'th,” causing Dave and Karkat to snicker.

It was a ten minute walk from Jade's apartment to Dave's. The walk was spent mostly in silence, save for the noises of distant and fading gunshots, the noises of people running down the streets trying to escape, the excited chatter. When they arrived, Dave threw open the door, expecting to see his brother lounging on the couch, but was met with an empty room.

“Bro's not here,” he said, walking in and marching into the kitchen. “Bro's always here. What the fuck?”

The chip didn't sting.

“Why ain't our chips stingin'?” Dave turned to Jade in confusion, as if she had the answers.

“The system is shut down,” she replied simply, turning away from him and saying, “We need to leave.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dave said, taking his backpack off. He dumped its contents on the kitchen counter - a couple of notebooks, a pencil, a history textbook. 

“I'm just gettin' some food. You don't know where we'll be.” He started shoving cans of vegetables, packs of meat, and a loaf of sliced bread into the backpack.

“That's a lot of food,” Eridan noted.

“We might be gone a while,” Dave rolled his eyes.

“I have an idea on where to go,” Jade nodded, a twinkle in her eye. There was a slight but nearly invisible smirk gracing her lips. She started to speak when a Knight passed by the door-way. There was a shout, “Princess!”

Jade turned in confusion. The Knight called, “Get outside! There's a loading truck where your uncle shall be waiting!”

“Princess?” Dave quirked an eyebrow at Jade, who shrugged.

“It must be a nickname.” Jade hated lying, but it was necessary in this case. She tried to pass it off as nothing, and she gazed out the doorway, saying, “Let's go. I'm not sure where we're going, but let's go anyway.”

Dave hitched the backpack on his shoulder and nodded, “As you wish, princess.” He smirked at her.

Jade snapped, “Oh, shut up!” There was an obvious playfulness in her tone, as they used to argue all the time, ever since they were younger. Their guardians would say they fought like an old paired couple. Considering you didn't marry in the facility, you were paired by Them.

The five of them exited the apartment with haste. Once outside, they were confronted by two more officers. Jade raised her rifle and, taken aback, the officers backed up despite having their own weapons. Jade shot them each once in the head, and they dropped to the ground. She looked over her shoulders at the boys who followed her, “You guys gonna help out?”

“We don't have weapons,” Dave claimed. “You gave the pistol to Karkat, but that's it. We don't carry anything, Jade.”

“Then find some weapons!” she demanded. Her voice had taken a more serious turn, and she sounded as though she were meant for commanding. The boys scrambled around, searching for guns. Dave managed to pick a handgun from one of the officers' corpses. Eridan scavenged a shotgun as well.

“We don't know how to use them!” said Karkat suddenly, realizing he himself had no idea how to handle a pistol.

“Aim and pull the trigger,” Jade huffed, her demeanor coming off as quite rough. “I don't have time to teach you!” 

“Got it,” nodded Dave. He raised his handgun and shot at one of the passing officers. He managed to hit him in the back, but the officer turned with a sort of startled fury.

Oops, bullet-proof vests.

The officer raised his own handgun and aimed at Dave. Jade hurriedly raised her rifle and shot the officer in the neck. She said, “Aim for the head!” and then, frustrated, exclaimed, “They have bullet-proof vests!”

“This is like, a zombie apocalypse from television,” Dave grinned. “We have to shoot them in the heads and everything!”

Sollux glared at Dave and said, “Th'upid, pay attention!”

“Yeah?” Dave looked at Sollux and gave him a half-smirk. “I don't see you with any weapon.”

“I'm the brain'th of the group,” Sollux replied with a quirked eyebrow.

“No, you aren't,” Jade laughed. She stepped forward to where the Knights were beckoning to her. “Come, Princess!” they called. Jade turned to them and asked, “What about the others, Knight Starkeye?”

“You'll be safer on this one,” the man replied with a deep and raspy voice. He seemed to be in his mid-thirties. “They're all on the other loading truck. You will be shipped back to Italy where you will stay with your uncle.”

“Italy?” Karkat demanded. “Where is that? We haven't learned about other places, you know. Why are we going there? We _are_ all going, right, _princess_?” he said it sarcastically, tauntingly.

Jade shot Karkat a dirty look before turning her attention back to the knight. “Please, sir these are my friends. I must be sure they are safe as well.”

“Princess Jade, we don't have time!” Starkeye responded with a huff. “They've killed your parents – the King and the Queen! James' brother is ruling now, and you must be returned to your uncle!” Then he snapped, “They've stolen you once, now they will _not_ steal you again! Get in the goddamn truck!”

Dave sighed, “It's not just a nickname, is it?”


	4. N.W.O, K.I.A

A constant chatter started up between the five of them and the Knights. The boys were ushered into another loading truck, making three total trucks that would be heading elsewhere. As Eridan, Karkat, and Sollux chatted excitedly yet irritatingly among themselves, Dave interrupted, “Excuse me, excuse me, hold the fuck up," and held his hands up, fingers spread apart. “Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here? So apparently, the girl I've known all of my life and fallen in love with, is secretly a princess from this weird place called Italy, and her parents are dead and her uncle has taken over? Excuse me, what is this?”

The Knight turned to them from the passenger seat of the truck while the driver continued to ignore them. “I don't like your language, son,” she nodded. She had long black hair, pale skin, and a slight British accent. “The name's Peixes. Feferi Peixes. It's hard to explain, kids. You see, Italy is a country in Europe. Europe is a continent for your information,” she snapped before any of them could rebut.

“It is – or was – rule by King James Harley and Queen Marie Harley. They had a daughter, Jade there. They had a relatively happy life. Then the war took over, and they became ruled over the Knights of Paldandrea – Knights of the Stolen Children. I'm one of these Knights.

“ _They_ stole your parents from their beds when they were sleeping and stored them underground in that facility, treating them as animals. We've come to rescue you – this is our second coming. The N.W.O – oh, that's New World Order for you newbies – anyway, the N.W.O guys stole Jade when she was younger, and hid her away with you guys. We've got her back. Now she's going to stay with her uncle Righello.”

“You're a little young to be one of these Knights, aren't you?” Eridan asked her. He peered at her suspiciously, but she just gave a little shrug.

“Hold up, one second,” Dave interrupted, raising his eyebrows. “Can we just- like, are we just gonna ignore the fact that Jade fucking Harley is fucking royalty?”

“Dead with it,” Feferi snapped. “Your girlfriend is a princess. Actually,” a bemused smirk crossed her face and she looked at Dave condescendingly, “I doubt she's girlfriend...considering you'd have to be even the littlest amount of royalty. Relationships are supposed to be picked for her.”

“They're picked for us, too,” Eridan raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, its different. It's more like, royal family meets another royal family. It's kind of messed up,” Feferi responded.

“At least they get to meet them first,” he snapped.

“Quit complainin', you're out of that hellhole,” the female driving, Lauddi Vlalst, said with a smirk. “They'll have a bar waiting for you to party in.”

The device in Feferi's hands hissed dramatically with a new message. Feferi glanced down at it to see “ _KNIGHT STARKEYE KIA. PRINCESS JADE KIA._ ” Feferi inhaled deeply through her nose, biting her lip as she shut her eyes.

“What is it?” asked Karkat, peering closely at her.

“She's dead,” she responded. “We failed.”

Dave licked his lips - his mouth and throat had suddenly gone dry. He swallowed hard and asked, “Who...who's dead?”

“The princess, dumb ass. Along with her driver.”

There was a brief, tense silence in which a silent moment of grief passed. Karkat and Eridan looked at each other and frowned. Jade? Dead? No. No.

“No,” said Dave. He shook his head, “She's not dead. You're the dumb ass, you're wrong.”

“Oh, really?!” Feferi had a maniacal smirk on her face and a crazed glint in her eye as she turned in her seat to stare at Dave. She shoved the pager in his face, and Dave stared at it for a long moment.

“No,” he repeated. It felt as if a cold stone had dropped into the bottom of his stomach. “No, no, no,” he shook his head. “She can't be dead. That's _bullshit._ She _can't_ be dead!”

Feferi glared, “You think you're the only one who adored that girl? Wrong. We lost many soldiers in that fight. It's all fallen to shit. Be grateful that we even got you all out.”

“You saved us, yet you couldn't save a fucking princess,” Dave murmured angrily. He could feel his heart breaking. The girl he loved, dead. The girl he'd grew up with, dead. The only girl he'd ever trusted, dead.

“I'm sorry.” Feferi looked out of her window and went mute, even as Dave raged on.

“You're sorry? _Sorry?_ My best friend, the fucking love of my miserable life, is dead, a _princess_ , is dead, and all you can say is _sorry_?” Dave tightened his jaw and clenched his fists. He shoved his face into his hands and let out a muffled sob.

Sollux looked over at Dave and frowned, “Calm down, dude. It'th not like you were going to marry her or th'ome th'it.”

Dave looked up. He furrowed his eyebrows together and glared at Sollux. He looked him right in the eye and said, “Jade...is... _ **dead**_.”

Sollux was taken aback at the hostility, and he scooted away, practically falling into Karkat's arms. Karkat hesitantly put his arms around Sollux. Sollux said, “I-I'm th'orry. Je'thu'th.”

Feferi, ignoring their scuttle, stated dully, “I don't know your names yet.”

“Eridan Ampora.”

“Karkat Vantas.”

Dave said nothing, but simply put his head back into his hands.

“He's Dave strider.”

“Th'ollux Captor.”

“Okay, Thollux,” Feferi raised her eyebrows.

“No, _Th'ollux_ ”

“That's what I said!”

“He has a lisp,” Karkat rolled his eyes. “If you haven't noticed. It's Sollux.”

“Alright, _Sollux_ ,” she corrected. “You and your boyfriend, Karkat, need to go to the back and check for enemies. Eridan, you need to come up here to the front and help shoot. Dave – screw it, you're fine where you are.”

Eridan nodded gloomily, still rather bummed out at the loss of a friend and leader. Karkat, though, spluttered, “B-Boyfriend?!”

Dave said nothing.

“Yeah, he'th my boyfriend,” Sollux said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. Feferi started to make a rebuttal when there was a loud crack.

A bullet had pierced the window.


End file.
